Google Cloud Free Tier

The Google Cloud Free Tier gives you free resources to learn about Google Cloud services by trying them on your own. Whether you're
completely new to the platform and need to learn the basics, or you're an
established customer and want to experiment with new solutions, the Google Cloud Free Tier has you covered.

The Google Cloud Free Tier has two parts:

A 12-month free trial with $300
credit to use with any Google Cloud services.

Always Free, which provides limited access to many common
Google Cloud resources, free of charge.

This article describes both parts of the Google Cloud Free Tier.

Note: If you have additional questions about the Google Cloud Free Tier,
contact support.

12-month, $300 free trial

The free trial provides you with credit to pay for resources that you
use as you learn about Google Cloud.

Program eligibility

You're eligible if you meet the following conditions:

You have never been a paying customer of Google Cloud.

You have never been a paying customer of Google Maps Platform or
Firebase. If you have been a paying customer of either
of these services,
contact support.

You have not previously signed up for the free trial.

You have enabled billing for your account through the Google Cloud Console.

You aren't setting up a business account with a term sheet by working
with a sales representative.

In addition to resource constraints, the
Free Trial Terms of Service describes
uses cases that are prohibited during the free trial.
For example, you may not use Google Cloud services to mine
cryptocurrency during your free trial.

Service level agreements do not apply during the free trial.
Because this is a period to test and explore Google Cloud, you
should not run production applications on Google Cloud during the
free trial.

Always Free use

When you use resources covered by Always Free during your
free trial period, those resources are not charged against your free
trial credit.

Billing verification

Google asks for your credit card information when you sign up for the
free trial. Google uses your credit card information for the
following purposes:

To verify your identity.

To distinguish actual customers from robots.

If you don't have a credit card, you can provide bank account
information instead.

For more information about payment methods, including which types of credit
cards are accepted, see
Available payment methods.

After you submit your credit card or bank account information, Google submits a
one-time transaction for verification purposes only. The transaction has the
following attributes:

The transaction is an authorization request to validate your account. It is
not a permanent charge.

The transaction appears on your bank statement as being from Google.

If you provided bank account information, the transaction might take up
to 3 days to appear on your statement.

The transaction is between $0.00 and $1.00 USD. Your bank might convert this
amount to a local currency.

If you provided credit card information, this transaction might appear on
your statement for up to one month before being reversed.

No charges are made after this verification process, unless you upgrade to a
paid account.

If you provided bank account information, you use the exact transaction
amount to complete the sign up process.

Caution: There is no automated way to recover data that you used on VM instances
you created with Compute Engine. You must manually export any data
that you want to keep from your Compute Engine VM instances before the
trial period ends.

Upgrading to a paid account

You must upgrade to a paid account to use Google Cloud after the free trial ends. To take advantage of the features of a paid account
(using GPUs, for example), you can upgrade before the trial ends. When you
upgrade, the following conditions apply:

Any remaining, unexpired free trial credit remains in your account.

Your credit card on file is charged for resources you use in excess of
what's covered by any remaining credit.

You can upgrade your account at any time after starting the free trial. The
following conditions apply depending on when you upgrade:

If you upgrade before the trial is over, your remaining credit is added to
your paid account. You can continue to use the resources you created during the
free trial without interruption.

If you upgrade within 30 days of the end of the trial,
you can restore the resources you created during the trial.

If you upgrade more than 30 days after the end of the
trial, your free trial resources are lost.

To upgrade your account

You can upgrade from the free trial to a paid account through the
Google Cloud Console. To upgrade your account to a paid account, click the Activate button. If the Activate button is not visible, on the menu bar, click Free trial status and the Activate button will appear.

You must be a Billing Administrator on the account to make this change.

Costs after the free trial

Google Cloud services charge you only for resources you use. Each
service has its own pricing model, which you can find in the documentation for
each individual service.

You can estimate the cost of using Google Cloud by translating your
estimate of the resources you'll use into estimated monthly charges with the
pricing calculator, or by consulting the pricing
page.

Always Free

The Always Free program provides limited access to many common
Google Cloud resources free of charge. Resources are provided at
intervals, usually monthly. Always Free resources are not credits;
they don't accumulate or roll over from one interval to the next.

Unlike the free trial, Always Free isn't a special
program. It's a regular part of your Google Cloud account.

Program eligibility

You're eligible for the Always Free program if you meet the following criteria:

You do not have a custom contract or rate card with Google.

You have an upgraded billing account. An upgraded account is ready
to be charged for use, as opposed to a free trial only
account.

Your account is in good standing.

If you are deemed ineligible, you are charged at the normal rates
for the resources you use. If you think you are being charged for
Always Free usage, contact
billing support
for assistance.

Program initiation

No special action is required by you before you can begin using resources within
Always Free limits.

Program coverage

Always Free coverage
varies by service. Not all
Google Cloud services offer resources as part of
Always Free.

Program duration

The Always Free program has no end date, but Google
reserves the right to change the offering, including changing or
eliminating usage limits, subject to 30 days advance notice.

1 non-preemptible f1-micro VM instance per month in one
of the following US regions:

Oregon: us-west1

Iowa: us-central1

South Carolina: us-east1

30 GB-months HDD

5 GB-month snapshot storage in the following regions:

Oregon: us-west1

Iowa: us-central1

South Carolina: us-east1

Taiwan: asia-east1

Belgium: europe-west1

1 GB network egress from North America to all region destinations (excluding China and Australia) per month

Your Always Free f1-micro instance limit is by
time, not by instance. Each month, eligible use of all of your
f1-micro instances is free until you have used a number of
hours equal to the total hours in the current month. Usage calculations
are combined across the supported
regions.

Google Cloud Free Tier is also available for external IP addresses
that are being used by VM instances. In-use external IP addresses are
available without additional cost until you have used a number of hours
equal to the total hours in the current month. Usage calculations are
combined across all in-use external IP addresses. Google Cloud Free Tier
for in-use external IP addresses applies to all instance types, not just
f1-micro instances.